Last Friday the freshman from Apopka, Fla., bused with the ninth-best team in America to the Nation’s Capital to play in a NFL stadium. A day later, he made five tackles and damn near blocked a punt. A day after that, he was named the team’s special teams player of the week, which, if you’ve gotten to know Dillon, certainly matters to him.

That prize was the capstone to an active series of days, one that began with him in no way predicting it would end the way it did. Dillon spent the previous Sunday in the hospital.

“My diabetes was acting up,” he said.

He’d made a mistake and hadn’t monitored his blood sugar level as closely as he needed to, letting it get too high as he learns more about a life he’s just getting to know as a diabetic student-athlete.

“My body started to shut down,” he said. “I was in the hospital Sunday, but they released me. I was in class Monday. Didn’t miss any classes and I was at practice Tuesday.”

Dillon discovered the day before national signing day — the day before — he was diabetic. That explained a lot of inexplicable events in his life, namely dropping 30 or so pounds as he was trying to add weight for college. He worried about his scholarship, but called Dana Holgorsen and explained the predicament.

Holgorsen assured Dillon the scholarship was his and told the still nervous kid that he’d have all the help he needed at WVU. Dillon has all the help he needs at WVU, from the doctors and the trainers to the understanding coaches and teammates, many who wear rubber bracelets for diabetes awareness.

He can step out of bounds  from time to time, like anyone else can, and he’s still learning the ways.  The most important lesson? Life may be a little different, but football is football. He’s unaffected and no less capable than he once was, which means he can still do stuff like this.